


I've Got Plenty of Time (You've Got Light in Your Eyes)

by bad_pheasants



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Abstinence never works Alura, F/F, Kryptonian Culture & Customs, Kryptonian Rituals, Life-Force Sharing, Near Death Experiences, Pregnancy, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 08:35:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14398305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bad_pheasants/pseuds/bad_pheasants
Summary: Alex is dying, and Kara does something incredibly risky and experimental to save her life, something that no Kryptonian has done for millennia: Share part of her life-force with Alex.She should've known there'd be consequences.(Rating for later chapter/s)





	I've Got Plenty of Time (You've Got Light in Your Eyes)

**Author's Note:**

> I can't promise an update schedule for this one, because of RL things. I just need to start getting my drafts turned out of my inbox, lol. Expect random updates at unspecified points. 
> 
> Ridiculous title from the Miles Fisher cover of "This Must Be The Place".

“We’re not going to be able to stop the poison.” 

“—Internal bleeding—“ 

“—Organ failure—“ 

“ _Tell me how to fix this._ ” 

“I’m sorry, Kara, the creature’s venom is fatal, given the limitations of human technology.” Her mother's voice is soft and sad and mechanically gentle--But this hologram isn't her mother.

Or maybe it's a lot more like her than Kara would like to admit, and that's why this is so awful.

“I don’t accept that!” Kara's knuckles whiten. “I am not going to lose her to this. Tell me how to save her!” 

“I am sorry, Kara. I cannot.” Her mother's image repeats. Fury flares through Kara's veins.

“No! You said that about Myriad. You said that about Krypton. But you lied to me. There _was_ a way. 

“Your directive was to ensure the survival of the House of El? How about this. If Alex dies, I die. Maybe my body will keep walking around, but Kara? Your daughter Kara? She’ll be gone. Because there’s no _point_ —“ Her voice cracks. Kara fights down the lump in her throat and continues. “There’s no point in going on like this. Losing everything I love over and over again. You abandoned me, you left me alone, and she took me in. You don’t get to make me lose her, too. Not without losing me. 

“And then where does that leave your _House of El_? Another dead civilization with no one to remember it. _Dust_.” 

The image actually seems to hesitate. 

“There is one final possibility.” Her mother’s image admits after a long moment. “It might kill you, but if it works, it will save her life." 

Kara nods. She thought as much. "Tell me." 

//

Kara wakes up on a sunbed. Panic races through her, urgency, no concrete reason why. But she knows she needs to be awake. 

Her next thought is that that’s more than one heart monitor.

"Took you long enough." There’s a rusty voice from beside her. Even though she’s still not sure which way is up, and everything feels like it’s filled with cotton—including her—she turns toward the sound of it—and ends up lying on her front, somehow, EKG wires tangled up uncomfortably underneath her. 

But the sight of Alex’s face, weary and wry—for a moment, it’s like all her discomfort is insubstantial. Sure, Alex is in a bed and full of needles and hooked up to a heart monitor, but—she’s awake, and the awful bruising that was spreading under her skin has faded to a splotchy pale yellow, where it’s even still visible at all. “I know what I did to get here,” Alex asks, “Who’d you pick a fight with?” 

Kara groans softly. The sudden pressure against her front hurts; every inch of her feels like someone took a meat tenderizer to her muscles. The sun bed is helping, but she can still feel—it’s not enough. Definite solar flare. “My mom.” Her words are clumsy and her tongue is sticky and cotton-y. Alex snorts. "Water." She says to no one in particular. Her mouth is drier than a stoner in Death Valley. 

A second or so later, Alex hands her a bottle. Kara surprises herself by drinking the whole thing, spilling not a small amount on her face and the sunbed in the process. 

"Sorry." She winces apologetically and passes the empty bottle back. 

"Unforgivable." Alex’s voice sounds just as weary as Kara feels. She takes the bottle from Kara and drops it on the floor next to her bed. 

The water helps almost immediately. She starts to blink the fuzz out of her eyes. Kara’s gaze jolts back to Alex, to the monitors next to her, to the soft wry look on Alex’s face. Some of the details start coming back to her. “I blacked out.” 

“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.” 

The memory hits her, and Kara almost jumps out of her skin with the rush of residual panic. “It worked.” Kara tries to push herself up, to check her work, to see what kind of state Alex is in, but every muscle in her body screams in protest, and she’s not actually able to coordinate her body yet, so she just ends up flopping her arms around and frankly, it’s a miracle she doesn’t fall off the sunbed in the process. Her shoulder and arm and part of her side hang precariously over the edge of the bed. “It worked. You’re here.” 

That wry smile spreads. “I’m here.” Alex’s gaze softens further. "Whatever you did…” Alex’s voice trails off. "Was dumb." She finishes irritably. 

It’s been long enough that Kara knows what that means. And another time, maybe, she'd feel annoyed, or hurt, but honestly, the way this day turned out, it seemed certain that one of them was going to die, so this—she’d put up with Alex snarking at her for a century and being unable to say “thank you” like a normal person as long as she was _there_. 

“Anytime.” Kara sighs. Then, she scrunches her face. “You’re so far away.” Her voice has a plaintive note in it. 

Alex’s hand extends through the railing of the bed. Kara reaches through and tangles their fingers together. 

Alex’s hand in hers makes something relax in Kara, a tension she didn't even know she was holding onto. She starts drifting off again. “ _Shit._ ” She swears when she realizes, unable to make herself stay awake. “Are you— Are you—“ _Stable_ , she means to say, but she can’t get the word out before her brain stops functioning. 

Alex’s thumb strokes the back of her hand. “It’s okay. Go to sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.” 

Kara whines. “Don’t joke.” 

“Not joking.” 

“I love you.” Kara blurts, consciousness fading fast. It seems really important to say. 

“I love you, too.” 

//

When J’onn comes in later, they’re both fast asleep, hands still twined tightly together.


End file.
